Johnny Burke News

The Great American Songbook Foundation today announced a transformative gift in the form of one of Indiana's most stately and renowned private residences.

The nominations for the 2017 British Independent Film Awards were announced this morning. Topping the list was LADY MACBETH, garnering 15 nominations

An unforgettable performance by Kristin Chenoweth topped a star-studded evening Saturday as the Center for the Performing Arts hosted its 6th Annual Songbook Celebration presented by Krieg DeVault. The gala in the elegant Palladium concert hall drew 550 attendees and raised over $600,000 to support the Center's artistic and educational programming. BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!

Kitoliscious Music will release 'Love to Me', the new album by Bob Mundy, on October 2nd. In celebration of the album's release, Munday will be appearing at New York City's Laura Beechman Theatre, 409 W 42nd St (at 9th Ave), featuring musical direction by Dan Kaufman.

This is a follow-up album from Way-nee Dee, titled “Still My Nature”, accompanied by the “Never Too Late” band. T

'These songs are f**king great, even if you don't like me.' Seth Sikes was right, and humility aside, during SETH SIKES SINGS JUDY, LIZA, BARBRA, ETC. at Feinstein's/54 Below, he was pretty great, too.

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure Broadwaysted goodness because this week's new #FriendOfTheShow is Mrs. Gloop herself, the lovely and talented Kathy Fitzgerald! Kevin was off in the Windy City so Bryan and Kimberly are joined by Guest Host and #FriendOfTheShow Aaron J. Albano (and his aerator) to pour out wine while Kathy chats about her experience in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. 

Coinciding with the centennial of pianist/composer Joe Bushkin's birth, the release on May 19 by trumpeter and singer Bob Merrill of 'Tell Me Your Troubles: Songs by Joe Bushkin, Vol. 1' (Accurate Records) celebrates the musical legacy of a man who was revered by many of America's foremost entertainers for his wizardry at the keyboard and skills as a tunesmith.

Though all of Harvey Granat's midday events are illuminating and entertaining, his most recent SONGS AND STORIES on March 16 at 92Y could've easily continued at least another half hour buoyed by audience enthusiasm. The event's special guests, author/producer/journalist Will Friedwald (who has his own 92Y series), and President of Jimmy Van Heusen's catalog, his great nephew, Brook Babcock, were both knowledgeable, engaging raconteurs. It was also a great pleasure to watch the two men join infectiously enjoying the afternoon.

Just as death knells and obituaries are beginning to appear in the press for cabaret in Los Angeles (usually by inexperienced journalists in their 20s who seem to think that entertainment is restricted to their computers, IPads and IPhones), proof to the contrary arrives in the form of one Charles Busch in "THAT GIRL/ THAT BOY" at Rockwell stage and table on March 13th and 14th . With sold out and standing room only crowds, not to mention multiple standing ovations, clearly cabaret's heart was beating strong and proud.

Alex Leonard is a classy performer. His relaxed, minimalist style and adherence to vocals as written take one back to an agreeable past. Jazz riffs weave around rather than obscure melody. Lyric meaning is gracefully maintained. Aided and abetted by expert veterans Jay Leonhart on bass and Al Gafa on guitar, Leonard saluted the great Nat King Cole at Pangea on January 18 with a bit of history, a couple of illuminating anecdotes, and signature songs.

Sixty-three years ago, the musical 'Carnival in Flanders' opened on Broadway, at New York's New Century Theatre. With music and lyrics by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, and with Preston Sturges's book, based on French comedy film 'La Kermesse Heroique'.

Ronny Whyte epitomizes everything gracious, refined, and sophisticated that's become rare in music presented by artists under a certain age and temperament. Even with jazz interpretation, his accessible choices and deceptively casual delivery present songs as their authors intended. When he composes, tacit symbiosis with lyricists creates melody and images that seem to come from a less complicated era. Last Saturday night, Whyte was joined by veteran collaborators--Boots Maleson on bass, David Silliman on drums, and guest guitarist Sean Harkness--for a show that featured mostly eclectic American Songbook standards and originals from his own oeuvre.

I don't know when Ann Hampton Callaway started this chapter of her life, but she's emphatically in a new one. The artist savors every note, propelled headlong into her songs with uncommon exuberance. Signature authority extends not only to stellar scat but to enacting selected material. Accompanied by The Ted Rosenthal Trio (Ted Rosenthal, piano; Martin Wind, bass; Tim Horner, drums), Callaway shines luminous at Birdland (where I saw her latest show Wednesday night and which continues for two more shows Friday and Saturday night at 8:30 and 11 pm).

The Sundays In Summer Cabaret Series begins its 7th season on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2 PM with Internationally renowned singer Tish Oney at the Arthur Newman Theatre in Palm Desert. Ms. Oney, an acclaimed pianist, will accompany herself on the baby grand piano for "Going My Way - The Songs Of Jimmy Van Heusen" as the first of 29 different cabaret concerts to be presented by producer Les Michaels.

Bar Thalia, a narrow, uber-casual bar/café adjacent to the Upper West Side arts hub Symphony Space, has become the musical pied-à-terre of vocalist Marcus Goldhaber. Each first Sunday of the month, the artist presents two loosey-goosey acoustic sets with a guest singer and guitarist. The past Sunday's show featured vocalist Tessa Souter with Tony Romano on guitar.

The three-day 2016 ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop in Partnership with DreamWorks Animation and The Wallis concluded tonight with a special scholarship presentation by ASCAP Workshop Artistic Director and Tony, Oscar and Grammy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz. Six recipients - Mina Bloom, Rachel Gilbert, Tristan McIntyre, Dylan Schifrin, Bailey Share-Aizic and Juan Solis - were invited onto the stage of the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis to receive a combined $5,000 in scholarship funds to be applied to furthering their studies in musical theater and songwriting.

The indomitable Liliane Montevecchi revived her 25-year-old cabaret show Thursday night at Feinstein's/54 Below with verve, style, and the expansive flirting of a lifelong femme fatale. This time it's aptly titled Be My Valentine. Few can ad lib with so much beguiling heat. As the Cliff Notes of her extraordinary life are now familiar to most fans, this audience is here to experience the infectious joy of live performance.

On February 7, Emergent Arts' newest Sunday night show at The Yellow Barn, 'Stage Time', will be teaming with Emergent Arts' Unclub to present some of the best and brightest comedians the state has to offer.

How much do most of us know about Brooklyn's own Mary Jane 'Mae' West (1893-1980) other than that she was an iconic sex symbol who had a wicked sense of humor? It's common knowledge she acted and sang, but are you aware she was a playwright and screenwriter? Did you know she didn't make her first film until the age of 39 and never drank alcohol? Jazz vocalist Molly Ryan has done her homework, presenting a smart, multifaceted woman who was, outside her carefully constructed persona, "the epitome of modesty." Though narrative needs to be edited, her show Come Up and See Me Sometime at the Metropolitan Room (which completed a three-show run this past Wednesday night) is an excellent mix of history and anecdote making a case for increased appreciation of the subject.